Morciano di Leuca

Morciano di Leuca is located three kilometers from Torre Vado, at the foot of Serra Falitte which divides it from its fraction Barbarano. The surrounding countryside is a succession of expanses of olive trees, true and proper monuments of nature.

Its origins date back to the Roman and messapica age, when the territory was punctuated by numerous farms, dedicated in particular to the production of and trade in wheat and oil. The rustic villas Roman Morciano all gravitated in the area of influence of the municipium of Vereto (Patù), important city that had its landing place of reference in the bay of San Gregorio.

In the byzantine age the casale has experienced a remarkable economic flourishing thanks to the production of olive oil: in the historical center are counted twenty crushers ipogei, many of which are formed by granaries. In Angevin age (XIV century) was erected an imposing castle in defense of the inhabited area. The frequent incursions of the turkish pirates, which periodically they arrived in our comfortable coves along the Ionian coast, it suggested the construction to the equal of the aristocratic homes fortified.

Morciano di Leuca, town from rooted Christian traditions, boasts several buildings destined to worship among which the Parish Church dedicated to San Giovanni Almoner, patron saint of the village. Built in the second half of the Sixteenth Century, boasts a magnificent entrance portal, in renaissance style, which refines the austere form of fortified church. A few tens of meters separate the Parish Church from the Church of the Carmine that keeps smart altars, canvases of valuable artistic invoice and a pipe organ.

Along the ancient road layout which led to Vereto you can admire the Chapel of the Madonna di Costantinopoli (second half of the XVI century) inside which, leaned against the wall, there is a monolith frescoed with the image of the Virgin and Child. The stratification of paintings on the surface of the stone records a lapse of time that tells the evolution of medieval and modern art history.